Between crime and COVID, cities may no longer represent America’s future

Rural America may be badly damaged and disrespected by liberal political leaders who focus on cities, but hope is far from gone in rural America for its future.

Predictions that “rural America is on the rebound” have been just as common in Republican circles as Democratic confidence that big cities are the future of America. The cloudiness of both parties’ crystal balls should be a caution on the hazards of predicting America’s political future.

However, a recent article from The Atlantic, usually regarded as a moderately liberal publication reflecting the views of America’s educated liberal elites, gives a harsh warning to liberals that they’re writing off rural America far too soon. Entitled “How Florida Beat New York; People are leaving superstar blue cities and moving to red states,” the article gives a perspective many liberals in America’s cities need to read.

Here’s the link: How Florida Beat New York — The Atlantic

Some key quotes: “In a 2018 speech, Hillary Clinton claimed a partial victory in the presidential election she’d lost: ‘I won the places that are optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward. And [Donald J. Trump’s] whole campaign, “Make America Great Again,” was looking backwards.’ Clinton was echoing a sentiment felt by many on the left, that Democratic-leaning states represent the future and Republican ones the last gasps of a dying empire…. But Clinton’s remarks ignored trends indicating a coming reversal of fortunes. Just a few days ago, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) issued a report on the most popular states for domestic migration. Using Census Bureau data, the association found that Florida and Texas topped the list last year, with New York and California bringing up the rear. This report followed another bit of evidence that red states, contrary to Clinton’s observations, are the ones moving forward: As the economics writer Joey Politano pointed out on Twitter, ‘For the first time ever, there are now more jobs in Florida than in New York,’ according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The longtime economic dominance of blue states such as New York, California, Washington, and Massachusetts has rested on their ability to attract and retain newcomers. At the heart of a prosperous society is people, and lots of them.”

It’s important for those of us who live in the red states of rural America to realize just how much the elites of the…